Howdy, my long-lost, much-missed pardners.

Been a few months, eh?

Um. This is so difficult. Been too long. So much that should have been said/posted. 

Now there's a void. Ice and silence and absence. I got nothing: diddly squat nada. REE-EN.

Well, apart from this friendly I forgot to post last year. The score was 48-52. Or 52-48. 

So enjoy. I'm outta here - wait, friendly, what a coincidence! I've got a "family friendly" quiz book to finish. Right now. GRRRR. I am also fine-tuning an array of cutting remarks in readiness for combat with the inevitable hordes (bovine masses) of The Deceived on Amazon e.g. (first, there's me Will Grahaming it) "What kind of insane family would find these questions enjoyable? Impossibly hard. Had to return it" Me: Oh you did not write that. YOU ABSOLUTE, MASSIVE, THROBBING, PUTAIN DE SPAM-HANDLER DOUCHENOZZLE! - Je sais. Wildean wit at its most sublime.  

So fare thee well. Er, see you next year?

November Some Time? Maybe Early December. Back in Twenty Fifteen

R1

1 Nicknamed "The Squire", which US golfer completed the career Grand Slam when he won the Masters in 1935? 

Gene Sarazen

2 In 1714, which German physicist built the first thermometer to contain mercury as a thermo-metric medium? 

Daniel Fahrenheit

3 Which US author's L.A. Quartet includes The Black Dahlia (1987) and The Big Nowhere (1988)? 

James Ellroy

4 Which co-founder of the London Marathon was steeplechase champion at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics? 

Chris Brasher

5 Presented to Queen Victoria in 1850, which diamond is set in the platinum crown made for the late Queen Mother for the 1937 coronation? 

Koh-i-Noor

6 Which cathedral in Ghent houses The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan and Hubert van Eyck? 

St. Bavo's Cathedral

7 Which Jewish festival of Shavuot takes place seven weeks (50 days) after which festival's first day? 

8 In 2012, what became the first ever British-Asian sitcom on the BBC? 

Citizen Khan

R2

1 Which legendary creatures appeared in five faked photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths? 

Cottingley Fairies

2 The Russian-born Swiss billionaire businesswoman Margarita Louis-Dreyfus owns which French football club? 

3 A deathbed scene featuring the AIDS activist David Kirby was used in a controversial ad for fashion company? 

Benetton 

4 The Trendelenburg test is used to determine the competency of the valves in the superficial and deep veins of patients with what condition? 

5 Starring Conrad Veidt as Prince Metternich, the German comedy film The Congress Dances (1932) is set at which historical event? 

1815 Congress of Vienna

6 Instead of barking, which breed of African wolf dog produces an unusual yodel-like sound known as a "baroo"? 

Basenji

7 Which chemical element, symbol Fl, is named after the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia? 

Flerovium

8 Which New York City borough is the title of a 2009 novel by Colm Toibin? 

Brooklyn

R3

1 Pope Damasus commissioned which man in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin Bible translations? 

St. Jerome (Vulgate)

2 What name links a number one single for Brotherhood of Man and the judge who is the villain of Shakespeare's play Measure for Measure? 

Angelo

3 Which bay colt was foaled on May 23, 1933, from the mare Swing On and sired by Hard Tack, son of Man o' War? 

Seabiscuit 

4 Which two types of quark have the lowest masses of all quarks? 

Up and down

5 Which sailor married the Sky Sports presenter Georgie Thompson in December 2014? 

Ben Ainslie

6 Mercury City Tower, Eurasia Tower, and City of Capitals are among the tallest skyscrapers in which capital city?

7 Which car company makes the Octavia, Fabia and Superb? 

Skoda

8 King's Oak, a village on Birmingham's outskirts, was the originally setting for which TV soap? 

Crossroads

R4

1 Which heavy metal band released the 1983 debut album Kill 'Em All? 

Metallica

2 Which English footballer's son became the Wimbledon Boys Champion in 1962? 

Sir Stanley Matthews, father of Stanley Matthews, who was until Andy Murray, the last British male to win a singles tournament at Wimbledon 

3 Ranginui and Papatuanuku are the sky father and earth mother in which people's mythology? 

Maori

4 What types of pet are Grunts, Sweetlips, Foxfaces, Basslets, Anthias, Chromis, Dottybacks, Tangs and Surgeons? 

Marine aquarium fish

5 The name of which island group refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos? 

Cyclades

6 Which ruler divided the Hapsburg dynasty between its Austrian and Spanish branches upon his abdication in 1556? 

Charles V

7 Kingston Falls is the setting for which 1984 Christmas-time comedy horror film, directed by Joe Dante? 

Gremlins

8 Ascending a height of 51,000 feet in a hydrogen-filled balloon in 1931, Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer became the first people to reach which atmospheric layer? 

Stratosphere

R5 

1 Alexander George Thynn, born in 1932, is the 7th Marquess of where? 

Bath

2 Who has become the first British comedian to release a no.1 classical album, with his 2015 debut release A Year of Songs? 

Alexander Armstrong

3 Which Tory chancellor, who resigned in 1972, summed up his career as "hired by Winston Churchill, fired by Margaret Thatcher"?

4 Which bird (Corvus corax) is the most widely distributed of all corvids? 

5 After the release of Alex Kidd in Shinobi World in 1990, the last in the franchise, Sega decided to remove Alex Kidd in favour of which character as their new mascot? 

Sonic the Hedgehog 

6 After presiding over the funeral of his friend Alexis Helmer, John McCrae was inspired to write which poem on May 3, 1915? 

In Flanders Field

7 Which live show animal prop was designed by Roger Waters and built in December 1976 by the artist Jeffrey Shaw with the help of design team Hipgnosis? 

The original Pink Floyd pig

8 In English, which four seas are named after colours? 

Black Sea, Red Sea, White Sea, Yellow Sea

R6

1 Edward Rutledge (age 26) was the youngest signer; Benjamin Franklin (age 70) was the oldest. Which document? 

US Declaration of Independence

2 Played in the Thor films by Renee Russo, where Marvel Comics have added an A to her Old Norse name, which goddess is described in nearly all mythical sources as the wife of Odin? 

Frigg

3 Which Russian composer, who taught Shostakovich, wrote the music for the ballets, Les ruses d'amour, Raymonda and Stenka Razin? 

Aleksandr Glazunov

4 In 2009, actress Sophie Winkleman married which son of Prince Michael of Kent? 

Lord Frederick Windsor

5 Nicknamed the "Junk Bond King", which American investor was head of the high-yield bond department at Drexel Burnham Lambert in the late 1980s, when his earnings exceeded $1bn in a four-year period, a record for US income at the time? 

Michael Milken

6 Which French cathedral, famed for its 142m-tall tower, was described by Victor Hugo as a "gigantic and delicate marvel", by Paul Claudel as a "pinky-red angel hovering over the city" and by Goethe as "the most sublime, word-spreading tree of God"? 

7 The Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman broke which MLB record on July 11, 2014? 

Fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB history at 105 mph or 169 km/h

8 Sherry and beaten egg was the preferred Budget tipple of which Victorian-era Chancellor? 

William Gladstone

R7

1 The name of which dish means 'fried rice' in Indonesian and Malay, and has been called the national dish of Indonesia? 

Nasi goreng 

2 The UK's number one Cabernet Sauvignon, Casillero del Diablo is made in which South American country? 

Chile

3 Stonewall Jackson earned his famous nickname at which July 21, 1861 battle? 

1st Battle of Bull Run or First Manassas

4 Which heavyweight champion was knocked out by Jess Willard in Cuba in 1915? 

Jack Johnson

5 Mandeville is the capital of the Parish of Manchester on which Caribbean island? 

Jamaica

6 Which Danish king was succeeded by his son Sweyn Forkbeard in around 986? 

Harald Bluetooth

7 Churchill described which November 20, 1947 event as "a brief flash of colour on the weary road we have to travel"? 

The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh

8 The French bartender Fernand Petiot claimed that he invented which vodka-based cocktail in the early 1920s? 

R8

1 Captain Phasma, Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron and Supreme Leader Snoke are characters in which film? 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

2 Which Russian teacher described the actor Mikhail Chekhov, nephew of the playwright Anton, as his most brilliant student? 

Konstantin Stanislavsky

3 Soul Cake Tuesday Duck is Discworld's version of which folkloric figure? 

4 Which aria in The Barber of Seville features many "la la las" and has Figaro proclaiming that he is the luckiest and he has "razors and combs" at his command? 

Largo al Factotum

5 Which Victoria Cross recipient wore the belt that bears his name due to the difficult his disability caused with wearing his officer's sword? 

Sam Browne  

6 Which member of The Scaffold is Paul McCartney's brother? 

Mike McGear

7 Spain recently hosted England at the Estadio Jose Rico Perez, the Alicante home of which mythically named Segunda Division B football club? 

Hercules

8 Philosophy, Jurisprudence and Medicine, collectively known as the University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings or The Faculty Paintings, were painted between 1900 and 1907 by which Austrian? 

Gustav Klimt 

R9

1 Cadiz, Cairns, Campbell, Curie, Corby, Chafe, Canberra, Charleston and Crewe are craters on which planet? Mars

2 Published posthumously by the British Library in 2011, the novel The Narrative of John Smith was written in 1883 by who? 

Arthur Conan Doyle

3 Which Austrian composer has blue plaques at 180 Ebury Street SW1 and 20 Frith Street in Soho? 

Mozart - he composed his first symphony at age eight in Ebury Street in 1764 and one in Frith Street where he stayed with his father and sister and entertained as a musical prodigy in 1765

4 Komatsu is the world's second largest manufacturer of construction equipment and mining equipment after which US company?

5 In 1974, Buckminster Fuller succeeded Cyril Burt as president of which high IQ society? 

Mensa

6 The Group 17 elements in the periodic table are known by what name? 

Halogens

7 The death of a childless and extremely disabled king known as Charles the Bewitched caused which 18th century war? 

Spanish Succession

8 The mostly collapsed 12th century Saint-Benezet Bridge spans the River Rhone in which French city? 

Avignon

R10

1 The Al in Al Pacino's name is short for what? 

Alfredo

2 The Mangani is a fictional species of great apes in which novels? 

Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs

3 First flown in 2005, the Falcon 7X is the flagship offering of which French company's business jet line?

4 Which Asian country took away the citizenship of its Rohingya minority in 1982? 

Burma

5 Which Japanese company's Fiera car model caused controversy in Puerto Rico, where fiera means 'ugly old woman'? 

Toyota

6 Crilly, Maguire and Hackett were the surnames of the main male characters in which sitcom? 

Father Ted (Fathers Ted, Dougal and Jack)

7 Which Jamaican music star has written memoirs titled I'll Never Write My Memoirs (2015)? 

8 Who succeeded her husband Nestor as president in 2007 and defeated Hermes Binner in her 2011 reelection bid? 

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

They went unanswered in the game...

R1 7. Passover or Pesach

R2 2. Olympique Marseille

R2 4. Varicose veins

R3 6. Moscow

R5 3.  Reginald Maudling

R5 4. Common raven

R6 6. Strasbourg Cathedral

R7 8. Bloody Mary

R8 3. Easter Bunny

R9 4. Caterpillar

R10 3. Dassault

R10 7. Grace Jones